Snow in Winter
by Araniladin
Summary: Not too long ago, Qrow left the woman he loved. When it snowed that winter, something broke


It snowed that winter in Beacon.

It snowed so rarely this far south, Qrow could count it on one hand missing half the fingers. A suspicious man would assume it was an omen of some sort, a sign of something changing. Qrow, being a suspicious man, took it for a bad sign.

Bad signs always meant more drinking, Bad signs always meant stumbling through town, from bar to bar. The last time this had happened, Qrow had also seen snow. Snow with a splash of red.

She made it, but it had been a close thing. Everyone called it an accident. Qrow knew it was no accident. It had been him. The mission succeeded because of him, but she spent a week in a coma.

It felt like Summer all over again. It was Taiyang and the Ursa, Ruby and the scorpion faunus, Yang and Adam. So many more. All of them accidents, all of them with a real fault. All because they stood near the bad luck charm.

The first bar tossed him out after he finished a bottle of whiskey. The second bar, when he missed the toilet. The third bar kicked him out because he punched that one guy, some blond man. He started out at the nice bars, but after that they got worse and worse.

The first night, Ruby found him stumbling between dive bars. He woke up on her couch.

The second night, Yang found him at Junior's. After helping with the brawl, she let him crash in her guest room.

The third night, when she picked him up, it was an accident

All of the accidents were his fault.

"Qrow?" An angelic voice called to him.

"Snow Angel?," Qrow responded. His tongue felt too big for his mouth, his lips numb.

"I would recognize that ratty cape anywhere. Here, lets get you out of the gutter." Eyes covered by greying hair spot the angel. Slim, strong arms wrap around his chest and heave. "For someone so tall, you always were too light."

Pale white hair brushed over his shoulder as her scent tickled his nose. Lavender with just a whiff of ice dust, a minty smell. Her smell.

He lurched away from her before spewing cheap whiskey into the gutter. A hand snagged the back of his collar, and something grabbed his cape.

As soon as Qrow finished, lifting his arm to wipe his mouth, he found a handkerchief in his hand. Blue with white monograms in the corner. WS.

His stomach roiled again, butterflies shaking it up.

"Come on, I'll buy you some …" She looked down at her scroll. "A midnight snack, and I have a place for you to stay."

"No," Qrow mumbled. "No, I'll be...I'll be fine alone."

"Qrow, you are shivering, and I doubt you have eaten all day."

"Hurt you, don't want to hurt you again."

There was a huff. Qrow knew the look that accompanied that sound. "I think, right now, the only person doing any hurting is you to yourself."

Qrow found himself being dragged. His arm wrapped around her shoulder for balance, feet stumbling.

"Maybe I should just take you back to my place, you can barely stand."

"I's fines." Qrow leaned away, trying to prove it. His head hit the building before she pulled him back.

"I can tell." The pressure of her arm around his waist increased, and he leaned into her.

They walked as the snow fell. While neither talked, Qrow's mind yelled for him to run, to get away. Take to the sky before she was hurt again. Run, fly, flee.

"If you turn into a bird, I will knock you out of the sky and lock you in a cage till you sober up."

He stumbled, confusion scrambling his brain. When had she learned to read minds?

"No, Qrow, I can't read your mind, but you tend to mumble when you're drunk."

"Oh." His tongue still felt too big, but he could feel it again.

"We're almost there, think you can keep from puking till we get to my room?"

"No promises, I haven't eaten all day."

She let out a long suffering sigh. "Nice to see that you haven't change."

The words cut through the drunken haze, stinging. He reached for the flask at his belt, but his stupid fingers couldn't find the flask.

The musical jingle of an open flask called his attention to her. She held the flask to her lips, pulling down a decent shot. He watched the curve of her neck as she drink.

"Holy Oum, Qrow, is this paint thinner?" He reached for the flask, but she closed it with one hand and put it in her pocket.

"No, you've had enough, and I'm not going to keep handling you sober."

He snorted. "You haven't changed either, Ice Queen."

"What happened to Snow Angel?" She laughed as she manhandled him onto the elevator.

"I only called you that to upset Ironwood."

"...you called me that tonight."

The elevator ride ascended into the worst kind of silence.

Qrow woke up in the clouds. White, fluffy blankets, a pillow too soft to be useful. His cape wrapped around his head, a splash of red over white.

He jumped out of the bed, pillows flying, blanket wrapping around him. The thump against the floor was more shock than pain.

"Qrow, are you okay?"

An angel knelt down, pale hand reaching out for him. He shied away, not wanting to let her hurt again.

"I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?" His back hit the bed, stopping him. The hand was warm, it felt good, too good. The good memories, the good times.

"I got us food, some of those burritos you always go on about."

"Burritos are good food," he grumbled.

"Then how come you only eat them only when you're drunk?"

"I's always drunk."

"Well, that's true. I mean, how come you only eat them when you are completely wasted?"

He shrugged. " 'Cause you didn't like them and I only got wasted alone."

She paused in helping him up, which caused Qrow to slide bonelessly back to the ground. "Fuck, sorry Qrow."

"Language, Ice Queen."

She laughed. "Fuck off, Qrow."

He found himself upright against the bed, burrito in his hand. On his other side, she ate another, bits of rice sticking to her face. He poked her face, trying to pick it off.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"You's face is dirty, rice." His lips had regained feeling, but his tongue still felt too big.

"I have napkins, I still remember the mess you made." She held up a neat stack of napkins. Qrow grabbed them, bunching them in his hand before swiping at her face.

"Hey! Those are for you! You have rice all over your mouth." She plucked the napkins out of his hand and wiped his face clean. "This is why I never liked burritos, you always made a mess."

"Just an excuse for you to touch my face," Qrow muttered, the napkins muffling his words.

"What?" She pulled the napkins back. He kept his eyes on her chin, not wanting to look up.

He took a large bite of his burrito, doing so in such a way that made sure the beans, rice and salsa stayed in the tortilla and his mouth. He chewed a few times before smiling. "It's a skill, and I really do enjoy my burritos."

"Was every time you made a mess an excuse for me to touch your face?" The humor in her voice kept the smile on his face.

"Not the first time, but after that, yeah." He took another bite, this one not as neat.

She laughed, shaking her head. "You sly bastard, that would be something you would do." She tossed the napkins into his lap and leaned against his shoulder. She took delicate bites, trying to not make a mess.

They ate in a more comfortable silence. She broke it. "I've been looking for you. I had actually given up before this snow storm forced me to stay in Beacon."

The urge for more booze suddenly strengthened, but she still had the flask. "Why? I's just hurt you again, like I did last time."

He felt her stiffen. "You didn't hurt me last time. That criminal got lucky, it was an accident."

"It's always an accident, it's always not my fault, but it's only ever when I'm there." The burrito oozed out of his hand as he squeezed it, trying to keep his feelings in check.

"Qrow, that's not true-"

He threw the burrito across the room. "Yes, yes it is. Summer, Tai, Ruby, Yang, you, everyone else gets hurt around me, but it's never my fault. That's too many accidents, too many times just being there hurt people."

She put down her burrito, and grabbed his face. He turned away, but again her touched robbed him of his strength. They guided him to look up, to finally look at her again.

Qrow kept his eyes downward. He didn't deserve to look at her, to see her. This whole thing turned into a big mistake.

"Why are you refusing to look at me? You haven't looked past my neck the whole time."

He shook his head. "No, no."

"Qrow, now you are starting to hurt my feelings. Why?"

The last year of excuses flew through his head, each one worse than the next. "I don't deserve too." That felt like the truth.

She giggled. "Really, Qrow, I knew you were melodramatic, but this takes the cake." His hair is swept from his eyes, and she tilts his head back.

In a year, so many things, but in turn, so few change. She still had that sharp face, those full lips, eyes that both scared him and aroused him. The changes were the haunted look in her blue eyes, the frown lines around her mouth, and the scar that traced from her hairline to touch the top of her right cheekbone. A knife meant for him, scarring her instead.

He reached up to touch the scar. A year, it had healed well, but it would never go away. She would always carry the mark of his luck.

She let him touch it, trace the path is made over the side of her race. "Weiss jokes about how we have matching scars now. I like it, mostly cause Father hates it." Her smile invited him to laugh with her, but he couldn't.

"I never wanted to hurt you."

Sighing, she took his hand and pulled it into her lap. "Qrow, I'm a soldier, same as you. We are going to get hurt." She reached out and pulled him against her. "In all the time we've been together, at no point did I think you would hurt me."

Wetness tickled his nose, his chest hurt. "But people do get hurt around me."

The smack against his head halted the tears. "Ohh, fuck Winter, that hurt."

"You really need to stop with the moping. We are going to get hurt, no matter what, and your accidents tend to help more than hinder. Now, are you done feeling sorry for yourself, because it's been a year, and you are the only one who seems upset about this whole thing."

"But you-"

She cut him off with a cut of her hand. "I didn't die, and so beating yourself up over maybes and could bes doesn't help." She pulled him tighter and kissed the top of his head. "It's been a year, and I've missed you. Just stay with me for right now."

Nothing more needed to be said, Qrow nodding in agreement. The morning might be something different, but right now, in this moment, everything was okay.


End file.
